Diamondbacks' Bronson Arroyo to have Tommy John surgery

Diamondbacks starter Bronson Arroyo (center), shown June 10 with pitching coach Mike Harkey and catcher Miguel Montero, never had been on the disabled list before this season.(Photo: Charlie Leight/azcentral sports)

Back in March, Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson was asked about reasons for the surge of Tommy John surgeries in 2014. Reasons were elusive, he said, singling out 37-year-old pitcher Bronson Arroyo, legendary for his durability.

"There are guys who have pitched for a long time and never had a problem," Gibson said at the time. "Look at Arroyo. I mean, he's throwing the ball from all over. If anyone should have it, it should be him."

Gibson realized his gaffe and knocked on the wood of the podium in front of him. The Diamondbacks had just lost ace Patrick Corbin to the surgery, and didn't need any more bad mojo.

So much for that superstition. On Monday, Arroyo told reporters he'd need reconstructive surgery for an ulnar collateral ligament that was torn "completely off the bone."

Arroyo was placed on the disabled list with a sprained UCL on June 16, a day after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers with dramatically diminished velocity on his fastball. An MRI showed a complete tear, he said, but he initially hoped some rest would do him some good and that he could eventually pitch despite the injury, which affects the stability of the elbows structure less than its actual function.

Rest helped little.

"I fired it up the last three days, and I could throw 120 feet and I could probably go out there and pitch, but it won't come back fast enough," Arroyo said. "So I'd have to pitch every 10 days and take nine days to get it healthy. It just isn't going to work."

Arroyo underwent an MRI when he signed his two-year, $23.5 million guaranteed contract in February, and said the scans showed his UCL to be in mint condition. He's not sure when the ligament tore, but his best guess is May 13, when he tossed a complete game against the Washington Nationals in a pitching duel with Stephen Strasburg.

His elbow was "very stiff" the next morning, but that didn't alarm the veteran righthander. He'd felt similar discomfort for a long stretch of the 1998 season in the minors. But as the year progressed, his arm rebounded less and less. His velocity dropped from about 89 mph to about 82 mph in the span of six starts.

He eventually made peace with the notion that he'd land on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Accepting the fact that he'd need surgery took a little longer.

"I spent two decades trying to avoid the disabled list, and now I've got to sit on this thing for a year," he said.The idea of missing a start has always been anathema to Arroyo, and it's fair to wonder if his long record of good health blinded him and the Diamondbacks to obvious signs of wear and tear on his 37-year-old body.

Arroyo missed most of spring training with a bulging disk in his back, but still pushed himself to be ready for the regular season. Even with his arm in obvious pain, he continued to pitch for a month, possibly making things worse.

Arroyo doesn't see it that way, though. It was just his time.

"I've had 3,500-plus innings on my arm in the last 20 years," Arroyo said. "That's not counting everything you do as a kid, and as I kid I played this game pretty much year-round as well. You have so many miles. I just basically ran the tires raw, and I need a new set to keep going."

And Arroyo fully intends to keep going. If this were his predetermined final season, he said, he'd pitch through the pain. But now, if he comes back healthy, he could see himself pitching into his 40's.

The date and location of his surgery have yet to be determined, but he wants to get the procedure done before July 15. That way, with a cautiously optimistic timetable of 11 months to recover, he hopes to return in time to give the Diamondbacks a good look at him in action before they decide whether to pick up his $11 million option for the 2016 season.

Should the team decline the option, Arroyo will be paid a $4.5 million buyout and the Diamondbacks will have received 14 starts and a 4.08 ERA in a lost season for their $23.5 million investment.

"It's a pretty hefty option here," Arroyo said. "I want to give them an opportunity to at least see me throw for a few months and know that what they have here is what they had before."

MLB disabled list: Notable injuries

Giants OF Angel Pagan: Back surgery, out for season (Photo: Lance Iversen, USA TODAY Sports)